Chapter 1012: Chapter 785: Rebels! Surprise Attack!
Yue Xi’s eyes were filled with joy and excitement.
This is her realm, and this feeling of coming home finally lets her avoid the complexity and clamor of the outside world.
Only here can she truly find peace.
Now, with the Duchy’s guard specifically coming to greet them, the young girl’s mood is very pleasant.
Mu Fan was ready to thank Yue Xi for the welcome, but when he saw those two rows of about sixty ships, a hint of doubt flashed through his eyes.
Why does it feel a bit odd?
Purely intuition.
Although nothing unusual was detected.
“Reporting to Princess, the warship ahead has sent a communication request. The signal identification indicates the first team of Councilman Lu’s Sparrow Fleet.”
“Connect.”
Upon hearing this, Yue Xi happily told Mu Fan, “They are indeed here to receive us.”
With those words, a light screen directly emerged from the Central Hall of the Moon Language Spaceship.
A middle-aged man with a hooked nose and deep-set eyes appeared in front of everyone, bowing respectfully as his gaze landed on Princess Yue Xi: “Welcome back, Princess Yue Xi, to Babon. We are here to greet you; please forgive the haste of our preparations.”
“Thanks are long overdue; how could I be upset?” Yue Xi gracefully performed a princess salute.
“Princess Yue Xi’s heart is as vast as a forest.” Councilman Lu placed one hand over his chest, bowing, “Please allow me to escort you.”
“Alright.”
The light screen dimmed.
“Daisendari, did you notify them? Didn’t you say to avoid drawing attention?”
Yue Xi asked with a smile toward her side.
However, Daisendari frowned, “I have never informed anyone…”
Nonetheless, this does not explain anything. It could be that the spaceship was detected by space sensors as it passed through the wormhole.
“He said he came hastily, so it should be detected through space sensors. Councilman Lu means well.”
This is her country, so Yue Xi didn’t think much of it.
But suddenly, Mu Fan heard Black’s voice in his ears!
“Wait!”
“Mu Fan, this is a rather uncommon fleet arrangement of the Gardot Empire’s frontier fleets, known as… C2 assault formation.”
Although Black restrained its methods, it managed to control several cameras on this ship, enough to have a clear view of the fleet formation sticking to the trajectory in the distance.
With the information Black had collected when bored, it happened to have some knowledge of this rather obscure fleet formation.
“This C2 assault formation is occasionally deployed during standoffs between the Gardot Empire and the Galaxy Federation. It’s highly deceptive, only recorded six times in the Federation’s data due to the small scale of combat, thus lacking a high-threat-level mark.”
“The deceptive characteristic of this formation is that the second row’s warship rank is higher than the first row. The first row mimics the general interstellar welcome array, but the escort ships on the wings are replaced by heavy cruisers or higher-level ships… According to the records, this is a fake welcome formation. The front is a deceptive disguise, the wings are rapid assault units, and the rear row is the fire suppression unit.”
Black spoke quickly as Mu Fan’s eyes swiftly swept over the scene before him.
Indeed!
Having owned the Shadow Fleet, Mu Fan could distinguish between heavy cruisers and ordinary small escort ships.
The ten warships on the wings, although similar in size, possessed those fish-like heavy armor bows, which escort ships couldn’t possibly have.
“Wait!”
Seeing that the Moon Language Spaceship was really flying towards them, Mu Fan suddenly spoke out.
Yue Xi and Daisendari both turned their heads.
“What?”
They asked simultaneously.
Mu Fan this time looked at Daisendari, since he was the true head of the guard.
“That’s… the Gardot Empire’s frontier army’s disguised assault formation, code-named C2… Are you sure they’re truly here to greet us?”
Mu Fan’s words were like dropping a bomb into a calm pool.
“What!”
The eagle tattoo on Daisendari’s face twisted, an expression of ferocity Mu Fan had never seen before flooded his eyes.
“Are you certain?”
During the journey, the two had become familiar with each other’s personalities. Daisendari realized Mu Fan wasn’t someone to speak carelessly.
Mu Fan swiftly moved to the three-dimensional Star Map, his hands dragging the image, zooming in instantly.
“Would your country’s welcome array place assault ships on the wings… here… here…? The side firepower of the welcome unit is several times that of the front, is this… normal?”
Mu Fan’s latter half of the sentence was delivered word by word, with a chilling gaze.
“Bastard.”
Daisendari roared in restrained anger.
“That damn Lu Lie guy!”
“Mu Fan, get the princess back to her seat.” At this moment, the robust man’s actions were extraordinarily decisive, rushing directly into the command room.
[Disabling automatic cruise.]
[Activating manual control mode.]
[Slicer mecha prep.]
A series of sounds rapidly echoed in the cockpit.
Meanwhile, Mu Fan grabbed Yue Xi, who seemed still shaken by the dramatic turn of events, by her wrist.
“Yue Xi, back to your seat.”
When the strong wrist snapped her out of her daze, Yue Xi was already pressed into her seat by Mu Fan.
Watching his extremely quick movements securing safety devices on her, the future Duchess did not resist, nor did she panic amidst sudden crisis, merely showing some sadness in her eyes.
“Mu Fan, I’m sorry, it seems I have implicated you this time. If there’s a chance, take the escape pod and leave first.”
Mu Fan half-knelt beside Yue Xi, activating the last safety pin, then looked at the girl’s somewhat pale yet exceptionally determined expression.
He grinned, and laughed calmly.
“I haven’t taken you back yet, how could I leave?”
“Planning to revoke the deal?”
“That’s not gonna happen.”
Standing up, Mu Fan glanced out the observation window, the engines of the distant fleet seemed already warmed up, yet his voice was steady and calming.
With a raised chin, Yue Xi coincidentally saw the angular profile of Mu Fan.
Mu Fan’s words possessed a magical comfort.
Are all students of Ding Chuan this extraordinary?
…
As Daisendari entered the control room, the originally normal Moon Language Spaceship heading towards the Sparrow Fleet suddenly changed the deep green surface coating.
It transformed into a color resembling a yellow-brown serpent’s skin or ancient tree bark, exuding an aged and timeless vibe.
At this moment, the spaceship no longer related to anything exquisite.
…
Within the bridge of the central position’s massive welcome ship in the welcome fleet, there was no sign of the previous conversation’s Councilman Lu, only a group of silent soldiers gazing at the light screen.
Wearing deep green uniforms, their eyes coldly watched the deep space, as if they weren’t looking at the future monarch of this country.
Meanwhile, in the bridge of a slender heavy assault ship at the second row of the welcome fleet’s edge, a group of soldiers respectfully stood behind a person.
The eagle-nosed Councilman Lu Lie squinted his eyes, revealing a keen gleam.
Why has the Moon Language Spaceship activated the Tree Barrier mode?
“Reporting to the officer, the Moon Language Spaceship has started accelerating.”
“Reporting to the officer, the Moon Language Spaceship is initiating an arc change, veering off its set course.”
“The Moon Language Spaceship has decoupled the fixed communication channel, data link broken.”
…
At this moment, a series of reports swiftly resounded in his ears, and Councilman Lu sneered coldly.
“Looks like Mr. Daisendari, our Babon Eagle, has noticed something amiss.”
“However, with just one Moon Language Spaceship, where can you escape to?”
His right hand rose vertically.
Everyone behind him focused on that hand.
“Abandon disguise, all units…”
“Assault!”
Councilman Lu’s hand dropped heavily.